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The following article is written in collaboration with Jess Holsman, Deakin psychology graduate and founder of YouTube’s ‘Study with Jess’, where she gives advice to thousands of students around the world on how to study effectively.
Knowing how to organise your study time is key to staying on top of the increasing workload that comes with final exams.
Planning your study sessions will help to not only minimise procrastination but also ensure you use your precious time wisely!
Here are Jess’ top five tips for helping you organise your study sessions over the upcoming exam period.
Creating a study timeline will help you space out your revision over the weeks leading up to your exams. It can also help to ensure you dividing your time between each subject evenly.
Most importantly, planning your approach in advance will bring some much-needed structure to your study sessions.
Having a sense of direction can keep you on track and ensure you use your time appropriately.
To make sure that your study timeline covers all the necessary topics, it can be useful to first create a separate study checklist.
There are many online resources that can show you how to make checklists and study schedules.
You’ll likely find that your study schedule consists of a range of homework tasks and revision exercises that vary in terms of when they are due and their level of their importance.
Although you might still be working through a long list of ‘to-dos’ during study time, classifying your tasks based on pending deadlines and assessment weighting is extremely critical to ensure you are maximising the time available.
Prioritising tasks is also an excellent way to ensure you dedicate most of your time to the tasks that will have the greatest impact on your overall performance and grades.
Consider using a priority matrix to help you re-organise your tasks.
Generally, people are at their most productive in the first 25 to 30 minutes of hitting the books. Aim to structure your study sessions by breaking them down into 30-minute blocks.
Studying for no more than 30 minutes at a time can help you maximise your productivity, stay focused and produce your highest quality work!
Organising your study sessions effectively also means scheduling them during your peak-energy periods of the day.
Try not to allow your study sessions to be influenced by your peers, friends or siblings, as each and every one of us tends to study best at different times of the day.
Some students feel most alert and focused early in the morning, while others find that they are most productive and prefer to work in the afternoon or late at night when there are fewer distractions.
Just make sure that if you do prefer to study late at night, that you are still getting plenty of sleep so you can focus the next day!
Simply studying without direction is not effective. Be sure to consider what it is that you want to accomplish by the end of each study session. This will give you direction and keep you focused on the tasks at hand.
Consider using the first few minutes of your study session to create a to-do list and take note of all the tasks that require your attention.
Setting yourself short-term goals each time you sit down to study can help to prevent procrastination and increase your motivation to get working!
Try and break up your study sessions with five to 10-minute breaks. These micro-breaks work to recharge your batteries and refuel your brain, which allows you to better absorb and consolidate information.
Taking breaks is also important for stress and anxiety management.
Feeling a bit uneasy or overwhelmed during the VCE exam period is completely normal, but it can certainly be uncomfortable.
According to Headspace, self-care doesn’t need to be fancy or complicated to be effective.
So, make sure you incorporate activities that you enjoy like hanging out with friends and going to the gym into your study plans. Your body and mind will thank you for it.
Happy studying!
xo, Study With Jess
Check out some more great tips from Study With Jess in the video below.
